One of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit is to participate in the Helper Helper 12 Days of Giving. Throughout the challenge you’ll be encouraged to volunteer, express gratitude, donate items, give back to your community, and support the causes that you care about. Allow this challenge to show you how helping others can bring so much joy into your own life.
- Write an end-of-the-year gratitude letter to a person that helped you in 2021. Describe in specific terms what this person did, why you are grateful to this person, and how this person’s behavior affected your life. Try to be as concrete as possible. Describe what you are doing in your life now and how you often remember his or her efforts.
- Donate to a Food Pantry or Animal Shelter- Grab an extra bag of dog food when you are getting your groceries or contact your local food pantry to see what items they are in need of this holiday season. Some great items to donate include: Peanut butter, Canned soup, Canned fruit, Canned vegetables, Canned stew, Canned fish, Canned beans, and Pasta (most prefer whole grain).
- Volunteer for a Cause you Care About. For those of you on Helper Helper – check out the app for opportunities. For those of you still looking to participate, you can usually go to VolunteerMatch to find a list of nonprofits in your area.
- Call someone older or younger than you that might be lonely. This one is simple and goes a long way!
- Donate Clothes (Clean, New Socks and Underwear to a local shelter) or Coloring Books and Crayons to the Pediatric Wing of a Local Hospital
- Adopt a Family- contact a local church, school, or business that has identified families who may be in need of extra help over the holiday season.
- Drop a treat to your neighbor or someone in your community
- Donate Money to a Local Charity
- Random act of kindness
- Support a Local Business- Shopping locally can be a great way to get unique holiday gifts while supporting a local entrepreneur in your community.
- Give a Meal to someone- Drop off a meal or bring a meal over to share with a neighbor, friend or family member.
- Lend a helping hand- Give a compliment, shovel your neighbors driveway, hold the door open for the person behind you, offer to put back another person’s shopping cart, make eye contact and smile at someone you’d typically ignore, or do more than your share of choirs around the house.